Trial ordered for Apple store robbery suspect

CHULA VISTA  A South County documented gang member was ordered Thursday to stand trial on attempted murder, conspiracy, robbery and other charges stemming from an April burglary attempt at a Chula Vista Apple store that left one man dead.

Johnny Chenda, 25, will not stand trial on the most serious charge of murder that he faced. Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Richard Monroy ruled at the end of a preliminary hearing there was insufficient evidence to hold Chenda on that charge.

He still faces trial on charges that could send him to prison for at least 39 years, said Deputy District Attorney Carlos Varela.

Chenda, along with Alex Somphonh Choulamontry ﻿and a woman who was not charged, smashed the glass of the Apple store at Otay Ranch Town Center at 6:45 a.m. on April 4. Once inside, Chenda pulled a gun, prompting a gun battle with an armed security guard.

The three tried to flee in an Acura driven by Choulamontry, but he smashed the car into a light pole and died.

Chenda faced a murder charge under the “proactive act” theory — that he provoked someone into a violent act that led to the death of another. Entering the store with a firearm and raising it was the act that led to the sequence of events resulting in the accomplice’s death, Varela said.